California State Guard Organization Changes

California State Guard in Crisis! New Adjutant General & State Guard Commander Decisions Threatens California’s Safety

Before we begin this article we want to let you our reader know the purpose of this website and our non-profit, which is to promote State Defense Forces throughout the country, so they can assist and augment The National Guard, and serve their State & Country. We do not enjoy publishing news casting any State Defense Force in an ill light but if political infighting and wrongful decisions are are occurring we must report it so it can be corrected.

We have recently received reports from members within The California State Guard (State Defense Force) of major negative changes occurring within its organization. Previous the California State Guard was under the leadership of Major General Jay Coggan and it was the tip of the spear of State Defense Forces. It not only worked continuous Joint Task Force missions with The California National Guard conducting missions such as Wildfire Firefighting but also conducted Joint Task Force missions with The US Coast Guard. It had hundreds of certified soldiers within its wildland firefighting unit, and was expanding its operations with many State, Federal and military branches of The United States military.

Unfortunately 2023 marked a dark year for the force as the previous Commanding General, Major General Jay Coggan retired and a new Adjutant General (Senior National Guard General) Major General Matthew P. Beevers became commander of all California Military Forces. Our sources recently have revealed that the new Adjutant General has a personal distaste of State Defense Forces and wishes to distance its State Guard / State Defense Force from its Army National Guard & Air National Guard components. And alongside a new Adjutant General, a new commander of The California State Guard was appointed, Colonel (CA) Darrin Bender, the time was ripe for changes to occur.

Another odd note during our investigation was Brigadier General Robert A. Spano originally took command from Major General Coggan, but for some unknown reason resigned soon after, which left Colonel Bender in command.

Through our sources we were able to discover significant changes that were implemented throughout The State Guard. The first of these changes was a alteration to the uniform of The California State Guard. Originally The State Guard shared the same uniform as The California Army National Guard aside a few exceptions such as the Nametape of State Guard soldiers stating ‘CALIFORNIA’ instead of ‘US ARMY’. This is a similar style to that other state defense forces such as The Georgia State Defense Force and Washington State Guard uniforms. However the new Adjutant General and State Guard commander sought to make this differentiation more apparent. Now California State Guard Soldiers will wear nametapes that will change completely, it will still retain ‘CALIFORNIA’ but instead of the same OCP uniform (camouflage pattern) as the National Guard, the nametape will be completely Black with White lettering. Here is an example of the change:

Another change to the uniform is the switch from The US Flag worn on the right shoulder of the uniform to a California State Flag. This is the only change we can understand as The California State Guard is a California only military force under the command of The Governor not The President of The United States. Here is an example of this change:

According to our sources the reason for this change is due to the negative attitude the Adjutant General holds towards its State Guard / State Defense Force, and wishes differentiate it more from the other branches of The California Armed Forces. One of our sources have commented during an all hands meeting of The State Guard held on February 27th, that The New Commanding General of The California State Guard, Colonel (CA) Bender mentioned these uniform changes were due to the reason that “people joined just to wear the Army uniform”, which we believe is completely false and inaccurate. Many people join their State Defense Forces for a variety of reasons, from not being able to serve in The US Military due to medical issues, career & family commitments, or simply they wish continue serving their country after having served in The US Armed Forces.

However uniforms weren’t only on the list of changes that were made within the State Guard. Previously The California State Guard Foundation, a non profit, was responsible for donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to help fund The California State Guard, which assisted in paying for uniforms for soldiers, purchasing wild land firefighting equipment as well as other necessities, has been cut off due to a legal conflict arisen from a Adjutant General inquiry. That source of funding has now been ceased. The State Guard will now have a smaller budget due to this alteration.

Along with uniforms and funding, a massive reorganization has occurred in The California State Guard. Recently on February 27th, every member of The State Guard has been informed of drastic reorganization changes that will be implemented soon. Here is a diagram of the changes being made:

The first of such changes has affected the elite Emergency Response Command (ERC) unit of The California State Guard which is responsible for wildland firefighting. Major detachments of The Operations / Emergency Respond Command have been deactivated. The entire Emergency Response Command unit was deactivated with many of its units disbanded. Team Shield which is composed of troops to handle traffic control and security operations during a wild fire event has been completely deactivated. The entire Search & Rescue (SAR) team also has been deactivated. The Mounted SAR detachment has been put under the command of The Museum Command Team, which is responsible for California State Military history and maintenance of historical equipment. Not only is this an odd transfer but we question putting a mounted Search & Rescue unit under the command of a Museum command.

And the most important team, Team Blaze, which fights wildfires, has been transferred to Task Force Rattlesnake. We believe this is one of the only appropriate decisions as Task Force Rattlesnake is under the command of The California National Guard, and we believe this will provide a more seamless and integrated experience when State Guard & National Guard soldiers work together. However one of our sources have mentioned that Team Blaze is undergoing changes to become more of backup unit. Previous to these changes State Guard & National Guard troops would deploy together to fight wildfires. The State Guard is a key component of Task Force Rattlesnake. The previous Commanding General of The State Guard, Major Coggan, aimed at doubling the amount of certified soldiers in The State Guard to firefighters. Now that figure will diminish due to these changes. And as wildfire season quickly approaches this will drastically reduce the amount of firefighters in the field.

We have reached out to The California State Guard leadership for comment however we have yet to receive a response.

Another major shakeup within The California State Guard is the deactivation of MARCOM, which is the unit that retains California State Guard maritime vessels. This unit works closely alongside The US Coast Guard to assist in patrolling ports and provide maritime safety missions such as waterborne Search & Rescue. We previously reported on this unit and its successful training missions with The US Coast Guard. The deactivation of this unit is very strange as it has been very active and considered an important wing of The California State Guard with the US Coast Guard thinking highly of their previous work and mission.

Based on our sources these changes were all due to the new Adjutant General (TAG), Major General Matthew P. Beevers negative attitudes to its State Guard as well as the inadequacy of the new California State Guard commanding officer to properly address the benefits of The State Guard to the new TAG. This has not only demoralized many members of the California State Guard but also reduced the capability of California to respond to natural disasters due to political infighting.

We at StateDefenseForce.com strongly recommend the restoration of The California State Guard to its previous state where the units were performing missions seamlessly with The National Guard and US Coast Guard. To have each and every State Guard member return to the previous uniform they had been wearing with pride. We believe if unchanged the next few years for The California State Guard will be difficult and demoralizing with drops of enlistments and commissions as soldiers & officers refuse to commit their time to a organization that does not value them or appreciates them.

We believe these changes will put Californians lives in danger as soldiers and officers who would’ve been fighting wildfires, performing Search & Rescue missions, etc. won’t be there. The Adjutant General should have placed the safety of California above their personal distaste of State Guards / State Defense Forces, implementing these ill made decisions that will affect the safety of its citizens is very dangerous. And in regards to the new State Guard commanding officer, we believe they should done a better job convincing the new Adjutant General of the usefulness of its State Guard, or have at least appealed such changes to The Governor.

Due to these changes we have worry about the future of The California State Guard under leadership of Colonel (CA) Bender. In regards to our sources and others within The California State Guard we hope you continue to serve, perhaps the next State Guard commander or Adjutant General can better lead and motivate you.

If you are a resident of California you can voice your opposition to this reorganization by contacting your legislator – Click Here To Find Your California Legislator. You can also contact your State Senator by – Clicking Here. Lastly you can call The Governors office at – (916) 445-2841.

If you have news & information you would like to share with StateDefenseForce, please email us at staff@statedefenseforce.com.

Updated 3/4/24 2:00 PM EST: Diagram added
Updated 2:08 EST: Added Legislator contact information

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